After hours of ‘homework’ on 3-D images, Chennai doctors cure woman of stage-4 cancer – Times of India

CHENNAI: For hours, a group of doctors from various specialties at MGM Healthcare moved 3-D images of a cancer affected liver, made virtual cuts and wrote copious notes before they drew up plans for a marathon surgery on a 60-year-old woman diagnosed with stage-4 colorectal cancer that had spread to the liver. Eight months later, the team on Thursday said the woman is now free of the disease.
“There is hope for all cancers if you are with the right team of doctors,” said Madhavi Muralidharan, smiling at the flashing cameras.
Earlier this year, she met senior transplant surgeon Dr Thiagarajan Srinivasan, director, Institute of liver transplant and GI surgery with reports that showed stage 4 cancer junction of colon and rectum (large intestine) with nine lesions occupying most of the liver. Severe weight loss and loss of appetite had hampered her physical movements. Most doctors she met had told her that the disease was not curable.
After assessment, doctors saw there was just one option left – a precision surgical strike cleaning out cancerous tumors from the colon, rectum and liver at one go as the patient may not be able to withstand multiple surgeries.
Doctors said they had to remove all the cancerous tumour so there is no recurrence and yet leave behind an adequate chunk of the liver for the woman to recover. “We recreated the surgery on the screen. We made cuts on the virtual liver, measured the volume of future liver remnants and performed a 3D reconstruction with help from an expert radiology team,” Dr Srinivasan said.
After receiving consent for the surgery, doctors got to work and removed all nine lesions of liver and cancer of colon and rectum. For nearly six months after, she underwent chemotherapy.
Now, consultant medical oncologist Dr Arun Ramanansaidsheiscompletely cured of the cancer. “The patient has managed to gain back her weight and is able to lead a normal and healthy life,” he said.
Colorectal cancer is the sixth most common cancer and the fifth leading cause of cancer death in India. While stage-1colorectal cancer has 90%, five year survival after multimodal therapy, stage-4 colorectal cancer has only 10%, five-year survival rate. “Such surgeries offer hope to several patients,” Dr Ramanan said.